The purchase price is ZAR 6.55 billion. Liquid Telecom has partnered with Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), a South African empowerment investment group, in the transaction. The completion follows the country’s Competition Commission and Independent Communications Authority of South Africa granting their unconditional approvals for the deal in October and December 2016, respectively.
The deal expands Liquid Telecom's footprint in South Africa, enabling local and African companies to connect nationnally and internationally on a single fibre network. Through substantial new capital from Liquid Telecom, a revitalised Neotel will emerge on the South African market with significantly enhanced service offerings for enterprises and consumers, the company said. Over the coming months, Liquid Telecom said it plans to make extensive upgrades and expansions to Neotel’s network, delivering greater levels of high-speed connectivity to more customers across South Africa.
Liquid Telecom also plans to make substantial investment in Neotel’s data centre capabilities, which currently include two Tier 3 data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. For the first time, Neotel’s operations and focus will also become pan-African. Its network in South Africa will link together with Liquid Telecom’s extensive fibre footprint to offer access via a single connection to over 40,000km of cross-border, national and metro fibre networks. This will give Liquid Telecom reach across Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. Liquid Telecom’s growth strategy combines strategic acquisitions across Africa with ongoing investment in the rollout of fibre.
